NEW VIDEO -- Local ‘peacenik’ returns from stint in Israeli army

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June 3, 2008

By RANDY GRIFFITH The Tribune-Democrat Tue Jun 03, 2008, 02:59 PM EDT

Although he considers himself a “peacenik,” 78-year-old Harry Morrow said three weeks as a volunteer in Israel’s army allowed him to see the issues.

“Most soldiers in Israel that I met are anti-peacenik,” Morrow said in his Johnstown apartment, displaying photos and mementos from his trip.

“They want to fight,” he said. “I can understand: They lost their uncle, or they lost their father.”

Morrow recently returned from three weeks in Israel as a volunteer with the country’s Sar-El – or “service for Israel” – effort. The organization was founded during the Galilee War in 1982 to bring volunteers to harvest crops for army reserve farmers called up to fight.

Sar-El’s Web site says it strives to promote Jewish international continuity, create a cultural exchange and partner with non-Jewish supporters of Israel.

Like many of Sar-El’s volunteers, Morrow signed up to work on an army base. He found himself in the desert near Be’er-Sheva, spending each day preparing old ammunition for recycling. His job was to separate live rounds, empty casings and other components recovered from one of Israel’s battlefields.

His boss was a 19-year-old female officer named Mical, whom he described as a hero in the Israeli army.

“When you’re not used to hard work – like when your 78, and have been retired – you start having a sore back, burning feet, knees that crack and fungus from the heat,” Morrow said.

“But I enjoyed a great army experience, with amazing, grateful caring young soldiers.”

Although this was the first Sar-El mission for Morrow, his 80-year-old brother, Ben Morrow of Santa Fe, N.M., has been involved with the organization for 17 years. He worked on the same base this time.

When they weren’t soldiering, Harry and Ben Morrow rented a car and traveled the length of the country, visiting families and towns.

It was always bumper-to-bumper traffic, with every driver leaning on the horn, he said.

They even traveled into the disputed West Bank settlements.

“I have a very dear friend that lives in the settlements,” he said. “I swear this is true: I didn’t see anything resembling danger. Maybe there is a truce going on now, and maybe I’m dreaming.”

Morrow, who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, said he never felt he was in danger.

“I can honestly say the trip was safe; it was secure. And, simply put: It was just fascinating,” he said.

“I was more fearful of walking out of Joseph Johns Towers at night than I was in my entire stay in Israel.”

An active member of Beth Sholom Synagogue in Westmont, Morrow said his latest pilgrimage to Israel brought him closer to his heritage.

“Ideologically, I am bound to Israel,” Morrow said. “This experience brings me closer to the country and to Judaism. I had a personal feeling that I’ve never had in my nine trips to Israel of connectedness.”

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NEW VIDEO -- Local ‘peacenik’ returns from stint in Israeli army

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